Shot-distributing wad



(N0 Model.)

R. S. ELLIOTT. SHOT DISTRIBUTING WAD.

Patented Mar. 23, 1897.

Unire Srnfrns amnrrr Ormes.

ROBERT S. ELLIOTT, OF

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

SHOT-DISTRIBUTING WAD.

SECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 579,429, dated March 23,1897. Application led December 26J 1896. Serial No. 616,986. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom it 71mg/ concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT S. ELLIOTT, of Kansas City, Jackson county,Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inShot-Distributing lVads, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming a part thereof.

My invention relates to shot-distributing wads. As well known, thecustomary wad for this purpose is of disk form and exerts no influenceon the course or directionthe shots travel as the gun is fired. Whenused in connection with a choke-bore gun, the shell is presumed to havea sure killing capacity up to forty-five yards, more or less, and uponinvestigation and experiment it has been demonstrated that'the shot israrely distributed over a greater surface than thirty inches at thatdistance. That is to say,when the shot penetrates a board or othertarget at that distance all of the shot-holes may be surrounded by acircle of about thirty inches in diameter. Because of the fact that theshot scatter-s so little when hunting quail or such like game, which areusually killed at from iifteen to twenty yards, it is the exception andnot the rule when the bird is fit for the table, owing to the fact thatso much shot enters its body that it is almost torn to shreds. Of courseif the aim is poor and only the outer margin of the ring of shot strikesthe bird this is not the case, but the great majority of birds shot atat that distance are either missed entirely or receive the greater partof the shot in their bodies, and are therefore cut up to such an extentas to be unfit for the table.

My invention is designed to remedy this defect of the ordinary wad byproviding a wad of conical form which will exert more or less influencein shaping' the course of travel of all of the shot except thoseimmediately behind and in the line of the apex of said wad, as willhereinafter appear.

To this end the invention consists in its peculiar and novel features ofconstruction and arrangement,as will be hereinafter described, andpointed out in the appended claims.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, reference is to behad to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents avertical longitudinal ,l section of a shotgun-shell embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 represents in side elevat-ion a couple of my improvedshot-wads detached and of different altitudes, and also represents aplan or end view of either of said Wads. Fig. 3 represents a verticallongitudinal section of the muzzle of a choke-bore gun, and alsoillustrates in full lines the relative positions of the load as theforemost or shot wad is in the act of leaving the gun. It alsoillustrates in dotted lines the changing positions of shot withreference to said Wad as they get farther from the gun.

In said drawings the shell comprises the shell proper, l, of the usualconstruction. 2 designates the metallic cap or sleeve thereof. 3designates the percussion-cap secured therein.

4 designates the molded or stamped disk, which forms a backing for thepowder and is provided with a central hole or opening connecting thepowder and the cap.

5 designates the powder.

6 designates the customary powder-wad.

7 designates the shot.

S designates my improved conical shot-wad, which is composed of paper oranyothersuitable material and is arranged in position in the shell withits conical surface in contact with the shot and its apex centrally ofthe shell, as shown. It is held in position by turning inward, as at 9,the end of the shell proper in the customary manner. The depth of thewad, or rather its altitude from its apex to its base, determines thespread of the shot and also determines the quantity of shot spread-thatis to say, the greater the altitude of the conical wad the greater thedeflection and consequent spread of the shot, and vice versa.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be noticed that onlytwo shot are shown directlyin rearof the apex, which shot, when the gunis fired, are not influenced in their course by the conical wad any morethan the volume of shot is influenced by the ordinary wad of diskform-that is to say, the shot immediately in rear of and in line withthe apex of the cone travel directly in the direction in which the gunis pointed irrespective of the form of the wad. All of the shot,however, at any side of the apex of the cone are influ- IOO enced intheir course by the latter, as is explained hereinafter with referenceto Fig. 3. Should the conical wad be of such depth or altitude as tohave its apex against the front end of the powder-wad, all of the shotwill then be to one side of the apex, and all will consequently beinfluenced or deflected by the bevel or conical configuration of thewad. If the wad be of only slight depth or altitude, as illustrated atthe left-hand side of Fig. 2, a greater quantity of shot may be directlyin rear of its apex and therefore be uninfluenced by thepeculiarconliguration of the wad. One might conclude, at rst, that theshallower the cone the greater the deflection will be, but this, uponreflection, is seen to be erroneous, because the wad travels with theshot for some distance and almost at an equal speed. If the said shallowcone were fixed or immovable, the shot of course would be deflected at agreater angle by contact therewith t-han it would be by striking thedeeper cone at the right-hand side of Fig. 2; but as the wad travelswith the shot the only function it performsis to cause the shot as ittravels to vary its position upon and relative to the wad-- that is tosay, within the limited space, say of Ia few inches after it leaves themuzzle of the gun, the shot, or rather that to one side of the apex ofthe cone, will move a little faster than the wad, and therefore rolls orslides upon the inclined surface thereof until it ultimately clears themargin of the base, and being now unopposed by the wad, which has atendency to lag behind owing to the resistance of the air to itscomparatively large surface or base, advances beyond the wad and in adirect line, it being devoid of any further deflection after leaving thewad other than that possibly caused by the wind.

The varying positions of some of the shot and the wad. it has beenattempted to illustrate in Fig. 3. In the said ligure the charge isshown at the muzzle end of the gun, the cone and the most advanced ringof shot just emerging therefrom, as at a. Immediately the cone assumesthis position, the advanced ring of shot are free to move outwardly uponthe cone, and do, because, being heavier, their tendency is to travelfaster than the cone, which thus acts to deflect the shot outwardly, andthey roll or slide in that direction, at the same time moving forwardunder the power exerted by the exploded powder or other source ofenergy. Owing to this tendency of the shot to move faster than the wad,by the time the latter has moved only a slight distance from the end ofthe gun, as illustrated at b, the most advanced ring of shot haveprobably gained positions at the base of the cone, having been deflectedfrom their original position, as shown at Fig. l, to such position bycontact with the cone, together with the impelling force behind. All theother shot that is not directly in line with the apex of the cone isaffected in like manner and of course advances outwardly at the sametime,

the second ring of shot being shown in contact with and in rear of thefirst ring in said illustration l), while the shot immediately in rearof the apex still occupies its original position, as also illustrated insaid figure. By the time the wad ha-s moved a little farther from theend of the gun, as at c, the foremost or advance ring of shot has passedthe wad and of course travels thereafter in a direct line, as after theContact between them ceases the cone of course exerts no furtherinfluence upon the shot. The other shot of course has been deflected inthe same manner and successively clears and passes beyond the wad, whichmay travel from twenty to thirty yards. Before it has quite gone thatdistance of course the resistance of the air, the impellin g power ofthe shot immediately behind, or the wind blowing in one direction or theother has removed it from the path of the shot shown in the rear of itsapex, and consequently the latter proceed onward unaffected by the shapeor coniiguration of the wad.

When an ordinary shell is red from a choke-bore gun at a distance ofabout forty yards, more or less, substantially all of the shot willstrike within a surface thirty inches in diameter and will travel withinthe dotted lines d of Fig.' 3. Vhen a shell provided with the samequantity of powder and shot, but also with my improved or conicalshot-wad, is fired from the same gun at the lsame distance, the spreadof shot will be about forty inches in diameter, more or less,accordingly as the altitude, depth, or length of the cone is greater orless, and will take substantially the course shown by the outer dottedlines of Fig. 3. The proportions between said lines are of course onlyrelative.

Another objectionable feature of the ordinary shells when used in achoke-bore gun is the frequency with which some of the shot ball ormobilize, the result being, in technical language, a poor pattern, whichmeans that the shot scatteredirregularly, so as to leave unpenetrated onthe patternsurface one or more spaces large enough to completelysurround a pigeon or other bird without touching it. The consequence ofthis is that many birds escape at a pigeonshooting contest when the aimis perfectly true. This fault has long been recognized, and there havebeen many unsuccessful attempts to rectify it.

As a result of many experiments my improved shot-wad has demonstratedthe fact that this balling of the shot never takes place when myimproved shells are used,be cause of the conical formation of theshotwad. Vith the choke bore gun at from twenty to forty-five yards,more or less, one can make any pattern desired, both with respect to thesurface area covered by the shot 4and the uniformity and equaldistribution of the spread of the shot.

By uniformity of spread is meant that the shot will so scatter that itwill be utterly IOO IIO

impossible for a pigeon or other bird Within the circumference of thepattern to escape being hit by one or more shot, and at the same time itwill be equally impossible for it to be struck by a great number ofshot. This balling of the shot occurs frequently in the use of shellsloaded with nitro-powder.

With a Very shallow cone the shot from a choke-bore gun is scattered butlittle more than when an ordinary shell is used, but it has (like thedeeper cone) the satisfactory eect of effectively and reliablyovercoming the balling of shot, and the desired effect of distributingthem uniformly with the usual result that a pigeon Within the circle ofshot cannot escape, as frequently happens when the ordinary shells areused, because of the mobilization of some of the shot.

IVith shells provided with my improved shot-Wad it is obvious from theabove description that one may hunt quail or other game and kill them ata distance of fifteen to twenty-five yards Without tearing them toshreds and rendering them un iit for the table by reason of filling themtoo .full of shot. It is also obvious that they improve the chances ofthe hunter in, great measure for bagging game, owing to the fact thatthe shot is more uniformly distributed, and its spread is m uch inexcess of what can be obtained With the ordinary shells.

The shells of course Will be provided With Wads of different altitudesor depths, according to the kinds of birds or other game which arehunted.

Thus it will be seen that I have produced a gun-Wad which in somerespects Will revolutionize hunting, and which is especially andparticularly adapted for use in connection with choke-bore guns, butmaybe used in any other connection to Which it is applicable.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A cone-shaped or conical shot-distributing gun-Wad.

2. In combination with ashell, loaded With shot in the customary manner,a conical wad which is secured in the shell in advance of the shot, andWith its apex entering the shot charge, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT S. ELLIOTT, Vitiiesses:

G. Y. Trronrn, M. R. REMLEY.

